Campus Progress Statement on “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week”
Washington, D.C. – A far-right group called the David Horowitz Freedom Center has declared October 22 to 26 to be “Islamo-Fascism
Awareness Week“ and calls it “the biggest conservative campus protest ever.” The group seeks to draw attention by staging sit-ins at women’s studies departments and bringing right-wing pundits like David Horowitz and Ann Coulter to campus. Campus Progress encourages concerned students to counter these political stunts and offensive buzzwords with strong, reasoned arguments and honest debate. Terrorism and human rights abuses are serious concerns around the world, and there is much that can be done to improve security and human dignity here and abroad. The Horowitz Center’s “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” program, however, will only spread misinformation, create a hostile atmosphere on campus towards Muslim students and faculty, and obstruct needed debate about real solutions to terrorism and other pressing issues. While event organizers deny they are seeking to indict all Muslims, the facts suggest otherwise. One film included in Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” is “Islam: What the West Needs to Know,” and its description on Horowitz’s website is telling: Virtually every major Western leader has over the past several years expressed the view that Islam is a peaceful religion and that those who commit violence in its name are fanatics who misinterpret its tenets. This claim, while widely circulated, rarely attracts serious public examination….. “Islam: What the West Needs to Know” reveals the violent, expansionary ideology of the so called “religion of peace” that seeks the destruction or subjugation of other faiths, cultures, and systems of government. Several of the speakers that will be visiting campuses as part Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week also spread intolerant views of Islam and Arabs. Ann Coulter, a popular conservative pundit, for example, has called Arabs “rag heads” and urged airlines to use the slogan, “Now Frisking All Arabs—Twice!” She will be speaking at two universities in connection with Islamo-Fascism wareness Week. Another example is Robert Spencer, the director of the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s Jihad Watch project. He as made a career out of claiming that Islam is an inherently violent religion, and has been called an “Islamophobe“ by conservative author Dinesh D’Souza. He will be speaking at three colleges. While Campus Progress encourages students to speak out strongly against misinformation and intolerance, we urge students and college administrators to respect the free speech and association rights of the event organizers. Not only is free speech an inalienable right, but any attempt to shut down these events will only give Horowitz and his partners in fear-mongering undeserved legitimacy. To support student efforts, Campus Progress is releasing a fact sheet that discusses “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” in greater detail. Campus Progress is working with its network of student representatives and publications across the country, other student groups, the Center for American Progress’s Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative, and faith leaders across the country to promote reasoned debate on these issues.
Resources for students: http://www.campusprogress.org/page/content/IFAW/
Campus Progress, launched in February 2005 at the Center for American Progress, is a comprehensive effort to help young people make their voices heard on issues that matter. Campus Progress runs a daily web magazine, CampusProgress.org; supports student publications on over 50 campuses; supports local and national youth issue campaigns; has held hundreds of speaking events and film screenings; and works with students on over 500 campuses nationwide.
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